Cell Freezing Kits and Their Use Thereof

ABSTRACT

The disclose provides a cell freezing kit having a device equipped with a filter, and a container having hermetic closing means, which is capable of containing the device equipped with a filter, and methods of use thereof.

The present invention relates to the field of cell culture. More specifically, it relates to a method for thawing cells which is faster and easier than the conventional methods.

In many situations, the maintenance of cell cultures requires them to be frozen and to be stored at a temperature of less than or equal to −130° C.

During freezing, there is first a slowing down of the cell metabolism between the initial temperature and 0° C., and then, between 0° and −20° C., the formation of ice crystals in the extracellular environment, thereby increasing the solute concentration of the culture medium. As a result, water begins to leave the cells and passes into the partially frozen extracellular medium, thereby initiating the cell dehydration and shrinking process. If the cooling process is rapid, intracellular ice crystals form before the end of the cell dehydration process. These ice crystals tear the cell membranes and organelles, causing death of the cell during the thawing process. If the refrigeration process is slow, the intracellular free water is expelled from the cell by osmotic force, leading to complete dehydration and shrinking of the cell. This can also cause cell death. However, when the cooling rate is sufficiently slow to prevent intracellular ice formation, but sufficiently rapid to avoid the serious effects of dehydration, the cells can survive the freezing and thawing processes. The survival zone or window is observable in many bacteria or other prokaryotes, but for most eukaryotic cells, it is nonexistent or very difficult to find without using cryoprotective agents. These agents have little effect on the damage caused by excessively fast freezing (formation of intracellular ice crystals), but generally prevent or decrease the damage due to slow freezing (dehydration and shrinking).

A large variety of chemical products are used to provide appropriate cryoprotection, including methyl acetamide, methanol, ethylene glycol and polyvinylpyrrolidone. However, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and glycerol are the most practical and the most widely used. Several of these agents, although they provide excellent cryoprotection, have toxic side effects on the cultures, making them difficult to use. DMSO is most commonly used at a final concentration of 5% to 15% (v/v). Some cell lines are affected by more or less prolonged contact with DMSO. This effect can be reduced by adding the DMSO to the cell suspension at 4° C. during freezing, and by immediately removing it during thawing. Glycerol is generally used at a final concentration between 5% and 20% (v/v). Although it is less toxic to cells than DMSO, glycerol frequently causes osmotic problems, especially after thawing.

Thus, regardless of the cryoprotective agent used, it is necessary to rapidly dilute it or remove it during thawing of the cells. In certain cases, it is essential to remove the cryoprotective agent as completely as possible. This is the case, for example, when the thawed cells are very fragile or intended to be placed in coculture with fragile cells, as in the case of cocultures with embryos. This is also the case in cell therapy applications, when the thawed cells are intended to be injected into a patient: indeed, side effects have been observed after injection of hematopoietic cells in a solution containing DMSO (hypotension, heart rate disorder, convulsions, etc.). This removal is currently carried out by washing. Usually, after rapid thawing by placing the container in a water bath at 37° C., the cells are sterily transferred into a centrifugation tube, in order to perform one or more centrifugation steps with removal of the supernatant and resuspension in a culture medium not containing cryoprotective agent.

The multiplication of the pipetting, centrifugation, supernatant removal and resuspension steps leads to a risk of contamination of the thawed cells, and a technician and also equipment such as a centrifuge, a culture hood, etc., being unavailable for a relatively lengthy period of time. An objective of the present invention is to provide a simplified cell thawing method which makes it possible to very rapidly remove the cryoprotective agents while at the same time limiting the number of manipulations. This is obtained by using a filtering device such that the cells are retained on a filter through which the freezing medium passes. The present invention therefore relates to a cell thawing method comprising a step of thawing a cell suspension consisting of a freezing medium and of cells, followed by a step of removing said freezing medium by filtration. In the present text, a “cell suspension” denotes a solution of medium or buffer in which the cells, which may be adherent cells, are present in an essentially individualized manner, as opposed to a fragment of tissue, in which the cells are present in the form of an organized clump. Preferably, the step of removing the freezing medium is carried out without prior dilution of the cell suspension, as is frequently the case, for example in the methods described in the articles by Castino and Wickramashinge (Journal of Membrane Science, 1995), Xiaomin Zhou et al. (Journal of Biochemical Engineering, 2011), Perrotti et al. (Transfusion, 2004), Calmels et al. (Bone Marrow Transplantation, 2003) and Alghamdi et al. (AJVR, 2002). In a method according to the invention, the cryoprotective agents are preferably removed at the same time as the rest of the freezing medium, in a single and rapid step at the end of which the cells are temporarily separated from any medium, contrary to other methods described, in which the cryoprotective agents are gradually diluted by diffusion through a membrane, as described in patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,769 and also in the article by Arnaud et al. (Platelets, 2003). Thus, according to the invention, the step of removing the freezing medium is preferably carried out without prior or simultaneous provision of medium or a buffer.

According to one particular embodiment, the present invention relates to a cell thawing method comprising the following steps:

-   -   (i) placing a first container, containing a frozen cell         suspension, consisting of a freezing medium and of cells, at a         temperature which allows the cell suspension to thaw;     -   (ii) transferring the cell suspension from the first container         into a device equipped with a filter, the pores of which have an         average diameter of between 1 and 15 microns;     -   (iii) placing said device in or above a second container, and         applying to the cell suspension a force which drives the passing         of the freezing medium through the filter;     -   (iv) resuspending the cells retained on the filter, in a         solution.

The “first container” of the above method, or “the container” of the methods described below in which a single container is necessary, may be any sterilizable hermetic container which withstands very low temperatures, such as a cryotube, a freezing bag, etc. Of course, this “first container” may consist of a set of containers, for example a set of 2 to 5 freezing tubes, the content of which will be combined in the filtration device. It is also possible to envision, as is described in the experimental section below, dividing the content of a freezing tube onto several centrifugal filters, in order to avoid clogging the filter. The freezing medium may be any medium conventionally used for storing cells, such as a mixture of culture medium (for example, DMEM), of serum (20%) or a serum substitute (such as KSR from Gibco) and of a cryoprotective agent such as DMSO.

According to another particular embodiment, the present invention relates to a cell thawing method comprising the following steps:

-   -   (i) placing a container, containing a frozen cell suspension, in         a device equipped with a filter, at a temperature which allows         the cell suspension to thaw;     -   (ii) applying to the cell suspension a force which drives the         passing of the freezing medium through the filter;     -   (iii) resuspending the cells in a solution.

For carrying out the above method, it is necessary for the filter to have been chosen or treated so that, at the time of the introduction of the cell suspension to be frozen into the device equipped with a filter, the freezing medium does not pass through the filter. An example of filter treatment is described in example 5 below. It consists in adding to the filter, before the cell suspension to be frozen, a drop of a hydrophobic liquid. This liquid constitutes a temporary barrier between the filter and the cell suspension. During thawing, it is removed during the application of the driving force, which makes it pass through the filter. Any hydrophobic solution compatible with cell survival can be used to form this “temporary barrier” isolating the cell suspension from the filter. By way of example, mention may be made of glycerol and any sterile oil such as the endotoxin-free sterile oil used to cover embryos in order to prevent evaporation of the culture medium. Alternatively or additionally, a filter consisting of a hydrophobic material can be used, and also any other filter such that the freezing medium does not pass through before the application of a driving force which is necessarily greater than gravitational force g.

Conventionally, step (i) of the methods above will be carried out by placing the freezing tube(s) in a water bath at 37° C. or any other equivalent thermostatic device (such as a waterless bead bath, a heating block, etc.) for a period of a few seconds to a few minutes. The transfer performed in step (ii) of the first particular embodiment described above will preferably be carried out using a pipette, under sterile conditions, just like the resuspension of the cells retained on the filter, in the final step of the methods described above. Of course, these steps can be carried out manually by a technician, but they can also be partly or totally automated.

According to one particular implementation of the invention, the device equipped with a filter is a centrifugal filter.

According to another particular implementation of the invention, the average diameter of the pores of the filter is between 2 and 10 microns.

According to another particular implementation of the invention, the passing of the freezing medium through the filter is obtained by centrifuging the device equipped with a filter, placed in the second container. For example, this step can be carried out by centrifuging the device equipped with a filter for a period of less than or equal to 10 minutes (for example a simple “pulse”, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes or more), at a speed which makes it possible to apply to the cell suspension an acceleration of between 50 and 500 g, preferably between 100 and 200 g. Alternatively, this step can be carried out by applying an increased pressure on the side of the filter containing the cell suspension, and/or a reduced pressure on the other side of the filter.

According to one particular implementation of the method according to the invention, the amount of cells transferred in step (ii) or present right from step (i) in each filtration device is between 10³ and 5×10⁸ cells, preferably between 10⁴ and 10⁷ cells per filtration device.

According to one particular implementation of the method according to the invention, the step of resuspending the cells is carried out by performing pipetting operations using a P200 or P1000 pipette. Several suction/discharge cycles can be carried out, so as to dissociate the cell clumps possibly formed.

The present invention also relates to a cell thawing kit comprising at least one tube of frozen cells and a device equipped with a filter, the pores of which have an average diameter of between 1 and 15 microns, preferably between 2 and 10 microns, said device being sterile.

According to one particular embodiment of the kit according to the invention, the cells have been frozen in the device equipped with a filter.

By way of nonlimiting examples of cells which can be included in such a kit, mention may be made of the following cells: VERO, L929, 3T3, Ishikawa, HeLa229, Jurkat, K562, COS-7, etc. The amount of cells present in the kit will of course depend on the intended application. The kit may, for example, contain 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 tubes or more, each containing 2×10⁶ VERO cells.

According to one particular embodiment of the kits of the invention, the device equipped with a filter is a centrifugal filter. In particular, the kit may contain 1, 2, 3 or 4 sterile centrifugal filters, packaged individually or in groups of 2 or more. These filters can have been sterilized by any appropriate means, for example by irradiation with gamma-rays.

The kits according to the present invention are particularly advantageous for implementing protocols requiring the use of feeder cells, as is the case for the culture of embryos, in particular in the context of in vitro fertilization (IVF). A ready-to-use kit for thawing and preparing feeder cells such as VERO cells in fact has the objective of facilitating the task of practitioners in their actions to promote the development of embryos up to the blastocyst stage and the implantation thereof, in the (therapeutic) human field, but also for veterinary applications, for selection and/or reproduction purposes, more particularly in cattle, members of the ovine family and members of the horse family.

According to one particular embodiment of the kits of the invention, the kit is intended to for promoting embryo culture; in addition to the frozen cells and the filtration device(s), such a kit may also comprise one or more of the following elements: 200 μl and/or 1000 μl sterile tips, a culture support for in vitro fertilization, sterile tubes and sterile pipettes. By way of example of a culture support suitable for IVF, mention may be made of Petri dishes and the BD Falcon™ or Nunc 4-well plate, for IVF, which are manufactured from crystalline virgin polystyrene tested according to USP Class VI standards. In the context of the present invention, a kit intended for promoting embryo culture may also comprise a rinsing medium and/or an embryonic culture medium and/or a culture medium for blastocysts and/or a sustained culture medium (for example CCM™).

The kits according to the present invention are also advantageously used for carrying out protocols for oocyte in vitro maturation (IVM), as is performed for overcoming infertility due to polycystic ovary syndrome (POS), or before chemotherapy.

According to one particular embodiment of the kits of the invention, the kit is intended for promoting oocyte in vitro maturation; in addition to the frozen cells and the filtration device(s), such a kit may also comprise one or more of the following elements: 200 μl and/or 1000 μl sterile tips, a culture support for oocyte in vitro maturation, sterile tubes and sterile pipettes. By way of example of a culture support suitable for IVM, mention may be made of Petri dishes and the BD Falcon™ or Nunc 4-well plate, for IVF, which are manufactured from crystalline virgin polystyrene tested according to USP Class VI standards. In the context of the present invention, a kit intended for promoting oocyte in vitro maturation may also comprise a rinsing medium and/or a culture medium for oocyte maturation (for example enriched with FSH and/or estradiol and/or gonadotropins).

According to another of its aspects, the present invention relates to a cell freezing kit, which comprises:

-   -   (i) a device equipped with a filter; and     -   (ii) a container having hermetic closing means, capable of         containing the device equipped with a filter (i),         such that the filter is chosen in such a way that the freezing         medium does not pass through in the absence of a driving force         greater than gravitational force (for example, by virtue of         hydrophobic properties), and/or such that the kit comprises a         hydrophobic solution (water-immiscible) capable of passing         through the filter only when a driving force greater than         gravitational force is applied thereto. This hydrophobic         solution, which may be, for example, a solution of glycerol or a         sterile oil free of endotoxins, is intended to form a temporary         barrier between the filter and the cell solution to be frozen,         before the introduction of the cell suspension to be frozen into         the device equipped with a filter.

In the cell freezing kits in accordance with the invention, the hermetic closing means of the container intended to receive the device equipped with a filter preferably comprise a screw cap. According to one preferred implementation, the container is similar to cell freezing tubes, suitable for containing a filter such as those which are in the Ultrafree® centrifugation filtration units (Millipore®), the “hermetic container+filter” assembly constituting, where appropriate, a centrifugation filtration unit. According to the formats and uses, the kits may contain one or more (2, 5, 10, 20 or more) sterile or sterilizable filtration units.

The following examples illustrate the invention without, however, limiting the scope thereof.

FIGURE LEGENDS

FIG. 1: Number of cells recovered after thawing and centrifugation in Ultrafree tubes.

FIG. 2: Yield and cell viability of cells thawed and centrifuged in Ultrafree tubes.

FIG. 3: Number of cells per well during the cell culture (cells thawed according to the Ultrafree tube technique and seeded in a 4-well plate).

FIG. 4: Cell viability during culture (cells thawed according to the Ultrafree tube technique and seeded in a 4-well plate).

FIG. 5: VERO cell viability after 10 days of freezing at −80° C. in Ultrafree®-CL tubes, the membranes of which have been covered with 50 μl of glycerol.

FIG. 6: Cell amplification after freezing in Ultrafree®-CL tubes.

EXAMPLES Example 1: Use of the Thawing Columns (=Centrifugal Filters) for Thawing and Culturing Cryopreserved Cells Description of the Centrifugal Filters

-   -   Ultrafree-CL SV centrifugal filters from Millipore:     -   reference: UFC40SV25 Ultrafree-CL SV 5.0 centrifugal filters     -   filter for microfiltration     -   hydrophilic PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) filter     -   filter pore size: 5.0 μm     -   polypropylene device     -   non-sterile.

Prior Process on the Centrifugal Filters

In order to make them usable in cell culture, these centrifugal filters underwent the following treatment:

-   -   welded individual polyethylene packaging (packaging can         optionally be in several units)     -   sterilization by irradiation with gamma-rays at 25 kGy (an         amount of 8 kGy is sufficient).         The embryo toxicity of this device thus treated was tested by         means of “Mouse embryo assays”, demonstrating the innocuousness         of the centrifugal filters on mouse embryo development up to the         blastocyst stage.         Cells: monkey kidney cell line: Vero cells, cryopreserved in         nitrogen vapor, at 2×10⁶ cells/vial, with 1 ml of freezing         medium: MEMα culture medium (80%)/fetal calf serum         (10%)/dimethyl sulfoxide (10%).

Protocol: Thawing of the Cryopreserved Cells

-   -   Using one vial of cryopreserved VERO cells (Vero WHO, catalogue         No. 88020401 at the ECACC)     -   Place the vial in a water bath at 37° C. for 1 minute     -   Homogenize the content of the vial     -   Deposit 500 μl of cell suspension in each of the two sterilized         UltraFree tubes     -   Add 1 ml of MEMα medium to each of the centrifugal filters     -   Centrifuge the Ultrafree centrifugal filters for 5 min at 100 g     -   During the centrifugation:         -   Prepare 1 15 ml tube (tube T1)         -   Prepare 1 hemolytic tube containing 100 μl of trypan blue             (tube T2).             Recovery of the cells in the Ultrafree tubes at the end of             centrifugation:     -   Deposit 500 μl of CCM™-30 medium (Vitrolife, Goteborg, Sweden)         on the filter of the first Ultrafree tube     -   Carry out a series of 5 suction/discharge cycles on the whole of         the filer     -   Deposit the 500 μl of obtained suspension in the tube T1     -   Deposit a further 500 μl of CCM medium on the filter of the same         first Ultrafree tube     -   Carry out a series of 5 suction/discharge cycles on the whole of         the filter     -   Deposit the 500 μl of obtained suspension in T1     -   Carry out exactly the same manipulation on the second         centrifugal filter.     -   Homogenize the suspension of T1: “Suspension S1” (volume 2 ml)     -   Sample and deposit 100 μl of the cell suspension S1 in T2 for         counting     -   Perform the cell count, and viability, by depositing the cell         suspension between slide and cover slip of a hemocytometer     -   Adjust the cell concentration to 480 000 cells/ml with CCM         medium     -   Seed 4 wells of an IVF plate at 240 000 cells/well (i.e. 500         μl/well).

Monitoring of the culture on D1

-   -   Observe the cultures     -   Trypsinize one well and perform a count/viability (+trypan blue)         -   Rinse the wells with 1 ml of PBS         -   Suction of the PBS         -   Add 300 μl of trypsin and place the cultures at 37° C. for 5             minutes         -   Suction and discharge (using a P200 and 200 μl tips) of the             suspension until complete dissolution of the cell clumps         -   Inhibit the action of the trypsin by adding 200 μl of medium             for VERO cells         -   Suction and discharge of the suspension until complete             dissolution of the cell clumps         -   Count the VERO cells using a hemocytometer.     -   Rinse the other wells with 1 ml of PBS/well.     -   Add 1 ml of CCM/well     -   Incubate the plates at 37° C.+5% CO₂.         Monitoring of the culture on D2=observation of the cultures and         trypsinization of one well according to the description idem D1         (no change of medium).     -   Monitoring of the culture on D5=observation of the cultures and         trypsinization of one well according to the description idem D1         (no change of medium).     -   Monitoring of the culture on D7=observation of the cultures and         trypsinization of one well according to the description idem D1         (no change of medium).

Results

The experiment was carried out on three vials of VERO cells, and the results obtained are summarized in the graphs of FIGS. 1 and 2.

The results obtained show that the system for thawing VERO cells using the centrifugal filters makes it possible to recover more than one million live cells per vial of cells thawed. The cell viability is very satisfactory (greater than 90%), and the yield is also satisfactory (greater than 50%).

The results from placing back in culture the VERO cells thawed according to this Ultrafree centrifugal filter technique show a very good cell viability over time of greater than 90% over the course of 7 days of culture (FIGS. 3 and 4).

Moreover, the number of cells per well over time shows good cell growth starting from day 1. The drop in the number of cells between D0 and D1 after thawing and placing back in culture is observed in many cell types; it is explained by the fact that some cells may be viable at thawing without being capable of subsequently proliferating.

Starting from day D1, the number of cells per well gradually increases, and finally reaches close to 0.5 million per well on day 7 of culture, i.e. double the number of cells seeded.

The Vero cells thawed according to the Ultrafree tube technique are therefore viable and capable of proliferating in culture for 7 days. The results obtained on three tests show that this technique is reliable and reproducible.

Example 2: Use of the Thawing Columns (Centrifugal Filters) in a Ready-to-Use Kit for Thawing and Preparing VERO Cells for Mouse Embryo Development up to the Blastocyst Stage Protocol:

-   -   On day D0: thaw one vial of VERO cells and seed 4 wells of an         IVF plate, according to the protocol described in example No. 1.     -   On day D1: rinse each well with 1 ml of a buffer solution, and         add 1 ml of CCM medium.     -   Deposit mouse embryos at the zygote stage: 10 embryos/well.     -   On day D2, evaluate the % of zygotes having reached the two-cell         embryo stage.     -   On day 5: evaluate the % of 2-cell embryos having reached the         blastocyst stage.     -   On day 6: evaluate the % of 2-cell embryos having reached the         blastocyst stage.

Results

The experiment was carried out on three vials of VERO cells, and the results obtained are summarized below.

TABLE 1 Day 2 Day 5 2-cell embryo −/− Blastocyst −/− 2-cell zygote embryo Vial 1 97% 96% Vial 2 97% 96% Vial 3 97% 97% Average 97% 96% The results obtained show that the system of thawing VERO cells using the centrifugal filters makes it possible to produce a cell layer suitable for the development of mouse embryos up to the blastocyst stage, and said embryos are also capable of growing. The blastulation rate on the cell layer of Vero cells is very satisfactory: more than 90%.

Example 3: Freezing/Thawing the Cells in One and the Same Container: Ultrafree Centrifugal Tube

Freshly trypsinized Vero cells are frozen directly in the filter column of the Ultrafree tube (often incorrectly called “the filter”). The cells are then thawed in these same tubes.

Materials:

-   -   Description of the centrifugal filters: cf. example 1.     -   Prior process on the centrifugal filters: cf. example 1.     -   The glycerol used is the one from Euromedex, ref. 50405,         purity >99.5%, molecular biology and electrophoresis grade. Cell         culture glycerol can of course be used in place of the one used         here, as can any liquid that is water-immiscible and compatible         with cell survival/cell culture.     -   Cells: monkey kidney cell line: Vero cells, cryopreserved in         nitrogen vapor, at 2×10⁶ cells/vial, with 1 ml of freezing         medium: MEMα culture medium (80%)/fetal calf serum         (10%)/dimethyl sulfoxide (10%).     -   Culturing of cells: MEMα culture medium (95%)/fetal calf serum         (5%).

Protocol: Freezing of the Cell Suspension in the Ultrafree Tube Containing the Centrifugal Filter

Starting from a suspension of freshly trypsinized cells in culture (viability measured=viability before freezing):

-   -   Prepare a suspension at 0.5 million/ml in freezing medium         composed of 70% MEM-α (Gibco), 20% FCS, 10% DMSO;     -   Deposit 50 μl of glycerol on the centrifugal filter;     -   Deposit thereon 1 ml of the cell suspension in the freezing         medium;     -   Prepare 3 centrifugal tubes in this way;     -   Close the Ultrafree tubes and place them at −80° C.

Thawing of the Cryopreserved Cells in the Same Ultrafree Tube Containing the Centrifugal Filter

-   -   Place the 3 Ultrafree tubes containing the cell suspension in a         water bath at 37° C. for 1 minute;     -   Centrifuge the tubes for 5 min at 100 g.

Recovery of the Cells on the Filter of the Ultrafree Tubes at the End of Centrifugation:

-   -   Deposit 500 μl of 95% MEM-α (Gibco), 5% FCS culture medium on         the Ultrafree tube filter;     -   Carry out a series of 5 suction/discharge cycles on the whole of         the filter:     -   Deposit a further 500 μl of culture medium on the Ultrafree tube         filter;     -   Carry out a series of 5 suction/discharge cycles on the whole of         the filter;     -   Place 1 ml final of the cell suspension in a 15 ml tube;     -   Sample and deposit 100 μl of the cell suspension for counting;     -   Perform the cell count, and viability, by depositing the cell         suspension between slide and cover slip of a hemocytometer;     -   Seed in a 75 cm² flask and incubate the flasks at 37° C.+5% CO₂.

Result:

The entire test is reproduced three times, and the viability results are reported in FIG. 5. A viability of about 88.0% (±4.9) was obtained. FIG. 6 confirms that this technique is reliable and reproducible, the cells showing a good proliferation capacity after thawing. 

1-22. (canceled)
 23. A cell freezing kit, comprising: (i) a device equipped with a filter; and (ii) a container having hermetic closing means, which is capable of containing the device equipped with a filter, wherein the filter has hydrophobic properties and/or the kit also comprises a hydrophobic solution.
 24. The cell freezing kit of claim 23, wherein the average diameter of the pores of the filter is between 2 and 10 microns.
 25. The cell freezing kit of claim 23, wherein the filter has hydrophobic properties so that the freezing medium does not pass through the filter in the absence of a driving force greater than gravitational force.
 26. The cell freezing kit of claim 23, which comprises a hydrophobic solution capable of passing through the filter only when a driving force greater than gravitational force is applied thereto.
 27. The cell freezing kit of claim 26, wherein the hydrophobic solution is a solution of glycerol.
 28. The cell freezing kit of claim 26, wherein the hydrophobic solution is a sterile oil free of endotoxins.
 29. The cell freezing kit of claim 23, wherein the device equipped with a filter is a centrifugal filter.
 30. The cell freezing kit of claim 23, wherein the hermetic closing means of the container comprise a screw cap.
 31. The cell freezing kit of claim 23, wherein the assembly of the container and the device equipped with a filter constitutes a centrifugation unit suitable for centrifugation between 50 and 1500 g.
 32. The cell freezing kit of claim 31, which comprises one or several centrifugation units, wherein said centrifugation units are sterile or sterilizable.
 33. A method for freezing cells using the device of claim 23, comprising: (i) introducing cells in a freezing medium in the device equipped with a filter; (ii) putting the device equipped with a filter into the container; (iii) hermetically closing the container; and (iv) placing the container at a freezing temperature.
 34. The method of claim 33, wherein step (ii) is performed before step (i).
 35. The method of claim 33, wherein a drop of a hydrophobic solution is added to the filter before step (i).
 36. The method of claim 33, wherein the device equipped with a filter and the container are sterilized before step (i).
 37. The method of claim 33, wherein the amount of cells placed in each device equipped with a filter is between 10⁴ and 10⁷.
 38. A method for thawing cells frozen using the device of claim 23, comprising: (i) placing the container, containing a frozen cell suspension in a device equipped with a filter, at a temperature which allows the cell suspension to thaw; (ii) applying to the cell suspension a force which drives the passing of the freezing medium through the filter; (iii) resuspending the cells in cell medium.
 39. The method of claim 38, wherein step (ii) is performed by centrifugation.
 40. The method of claim 39, wherein the centrifugation is performed during less than or equal to 10 minutes, at a speed which makes it possible to apply to the cell suspension an acceleration of between 50 and 1500 g, preferably between 100 and 200 g. 